I’ve started up a new meme called Draw All the Things ( http://pencilcat.tumblr.com/post/64092290546/30-day-art-challenge-draw-all-the-things ) but instead of one a day, I’m taking my sweet time and turning out stuff that I like.

I know that I should be posting more often, but I’ve actually been really busy lately.

First off, I’ve been working on Strange Romance like a mad woman. I have finished all the inking and need to do the colouring. I’m waiting on my writer to let me know if he would like me to do watercolour and marker or digital. Either one is fine with me.

Secondly, I’ve been saving up for a new drawing art tablet. It’s not a Cintiq, as I’d be saving for years for that expensive sucker, so instead, I’ll be getting a Yiynova MSP 19U+ v5. They should really come out with a better name for it. Anyway, it’s supposed to be about as good as the Cintiq and about $2000 less expensive.

Third, I’ve been going to a lot of conventions. MCX was my first convention and I did amazingly well. Since then, I’ve been to Oshawa con, where I did okay, and to Forest City Comic Con, where I did really, really well again. I’m getting the hang of tabling and have big plans for an upcoming convention in December. I have two more cons before the end of the year: Sheridan College con, which is a Friday con, and Festivus con in downtown Toronto, where I am sharing a table with my artbuddy, Chris.

I have a ton of knitting to get done, as well as more prints. I’ll be working on crap every single day until the end of the con season of 2015…. and I’m already thinking about 2016. It’s going to be a busy rest of the year 🙂

It’s been a very Christmasy past two days. We went to my cousin’s house for Christmas Eve and had an epic snowball fight in her basement with these soft handmade snowballs brought by Les’ friend. We were all laughing hysterically and nobody was safe. It was awesome.

The kids got to open their gifts and Nick and Rusty were given some pretty neat gifts. We got home late, as always, but it was a great day.

Today was another Christmasy day. My kids got up at 9 and we all came downstairs and opened some gifts. I got a new desk, a new light table for tracing, and a small package of goodies from my mom, including PJs, a gorgeous sheep sweater, and some bits and pieces. Alex enjoyed the West Germany stein I got him and I think he’s looking forward to the Tesla test drive I arranged for him.

Anyway, it’s been a long day. We ate dinner at Stewart and Joanne’s place and all of us are STUFFED. It was delicious.

Tonight is more unwinding and then bed. I hope the kids let me sleep. Alex is off till Monday and we’ll have a quiet holiday at home.

It feels like every time we get really bad weather, I have to go to class. Of all days, it’s always when I am going to downtown Toronto in the middle of rush hour. As I mentioned yesterday, we got some snow. By some snow, I mean 15cm of snow. For my American readers, that’s about six or seven inches. Add, on top of that, the wind blowing it around.

It made for some really treacherous driving, as the roads were slippery and the plows can’t be everywhere at once. I left home at 3:30, got Nick from school, and got to my husband’s workplace at 4:15. After that, it was actually surprisingly smooth sailing. I was really pessimistic at first, but I suppose that more people than not decided that they’d stay at home and NOT drive. All the better for me. Greg and I got to the Korean restaurant at 5:15 and waited an hour for the others to show up. Then, it was a matter of SHOVELING our food into our pieholes and arriving at class just when it was supposed to begin. At least we made it.

I got some really good feedback on my story and have some significant changes to make. I’ll sit down with Alex this week and make those changes. Also on the list, lots of stuff. Here’s a checklist, mostly for my own reference.

Work on Red Surge inks

Work on pages for Condo story

Get prints made for the table at comic con this Sunday

assemble craft for Nick’s teacher

draw picture for Nick’s principal

knit cowl for Nick’s librarian

knit for my mother

knit for my cousin’s son

knit for my niece

laundry — dear god, the laundry

dining room table

drive out to a secret location to pick up a secret gift for Alex

go giftmas shopping for the kids and get gifts for Alex from the kids

bake cookies with Nick

So much to do with such little time. So much to do that I don’t wanna do it… but it has to get done.

Well, I’ve finished some art today. Page 1 of The Red Surge is finished, all inks and lettering complete. I need to do some of page 2 today, and I need to do some knitting in the worst way. I also need to draw a picture for Nick’s principal sooner than later and finish his teacher’s Christmas craft.

Oy, vey. Have I taken on too much?

It snowed last night; how rude. About a foot of snow on the ground and probably an extra hour to and from my class as a result of it. I’ll be leaving home right after Nick gets out of school and braving the terrible drivers. Snow, I can deal with. People? Not so much.

So, yesterday a few things happened.

I spent the day drawing and inking, as I usually do, and Rusty didn’t nap. We went to get Nick, then went to CostCo because Nick had no more snack foods for his school lunches. Once that was taken care of, we went home, only to find that the gifts that my mother had sent us were left on our doorstep by UPS without a signature or confirmation. Just left out there for anyone to take, should they desire. What a piss off. I brought them inside, then I dropped off the groceries, and then we went back to school, the three of us, because Nick had his Christmas concert. Alex was stuck in traffic because people are morons but made it JUST in time for Nick’s performance. I didn’t properly videotape it with the phone because I was distracted, but we amusingly discovered that he’s the kid who yells the lyrics of the sounds, rather than singing them. It was adorable. He was also very into the choreography and whole ordeal. Such a good kiddo.

During the show, Rusty decided that he was gonna be a terror, more than usual. He got out of his seat, pushed past the people in the aisle, and made his way right up to the stage where the kids were doing their show. One of the teachers grabbed him and brought him back to me, then the lovely librarian took him to the kindergarten room so we could actually watch the show. Later during the performances, she had brought him back to the gym where the Principal was keeping an eye on him. Unfortunately for him, he took his eyes off of Russell for ten seconds, during which time Russell made another dash for the stage, and was once again apprehended.

I was just glad it wasn’t my fault that time, and thankful that the little bugger didn’t make it ON the stage, as he knows exactly how to get up there.

We had Harveys for dinner afterward because I had a coupon and Nick took FOREVER to eat his burger. I’m talking, 40 minutes to eat a kid sized burger. Bloody hell, kid, seriously? We spent way too long there cos all Nick did was fuck around.

The last stop was the dollar store for some candy canes for our trees and for gifts.

When we got home, Alex rushed in and I took care of getting the kids inside. One of our letters in the mailbox was from the dentist’s office and they had misspelled our last name, meaning I couldn’t mail in the claim. That, coupled with the kids being wild animals, I was happy to get Rusty and Nick ready for bed. After the kids were in bed, Alex and I worked on my homework and I think we have a nicely solid story in mapped format. We’ll see what kind of subplot Ty will throw in there for us. Tonight, if class isn’t cancelled, Ty will also be teaching us how to write a roast, which will also be awesome. I can’t wait 😀

The last thing I did before bed was work more on The Red Surge. Sometime while drawing, the layers got merged down. I didn’t notice until I was out of Undos. OMG, I was PISSED. I put the work down for awhile and played PVZ until bedtime. This morning, I rectified the mistake and finished the work.

All good, all good.

Oh, I also stepped on what used to be a banana, all mushy and cold and slimy, on a chair which I was resting my foot on. A gift from Rusty.

And as for yesterday, I don’t really want to talk much about it, other than we got the boys’ bunk beds put up. Nick was thrilled to be able to help out and was even happier to be on the top bunk. Russell wasn’t happy to be on the bottom and disallowed access to the top, but hey. That’s kids, right?

I’ll post pics tomorrow of the tree and of the kids putting up decorations. It’s one of the best days of the year 🙂

I finished that daily drawing, finally. It’s all coloured and inked so tomorrow we’ll have something completely new. Not sure what it’ll be yet, but I’ll figure something out. Don’t I always?

And by get it, I mean snow. Not nearly as much as Buffalo, mind you, who got a meter dumped on them… but for Toronto? This much snow this early in the year? Yeah.

Driving was fun, yesterday… and by fun, I mean a fucking nightmare. I was fishtailing all over the place and slid off the road at one point — while doing 20kph. Unbelievable. It took me twenty minutes to drive six kilometers. Luckily, I got Nick in time from school and all was well — plus, Rusty had no potty accidents. He even fell asleep in the back seat, blissfully unaware of the chaos on the roads. I wish I were a kid again.

So, because of the weather, I’m deciding to stay in for the majority of the day. Alas, it won’t be for the entire day; I have writing class today and must brave the weather and the traffic to learn amazing things this week. I still haven’t done my homework, but that’s mostly because I hadn’t thought of anything to write about. I might actually sit and finish up in a bit because I came up with an idea late last night.

Alex was home late again last night. It took him over an hour to get home in the snow last night. The roads must not have been salted yet. He said this morning’s commute was “only” 45 minutes. (double the regular commute) and that certainly beats last night’s commute. He got home after 10pm. Poor bastard works 12 hour shifts most nights, other than Thursdays. I’ve given up my knit night because his workload is SO intense.

I wish they’d hire more people to help him. It gets lonely in the evenings without a snuggly, warm husband to watch tv with. Cats are nice, but husband is better.

I have no idea what I’ll be eating for dinner tonight. Greg hasn’t texted me yet. I should text him about it. In any case, I’ll post again tomorrow. I want to do this everyday. I will do this everyday. I can do this everyday.